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US Special Ops chief General Raymond Thomas confirms that the CIA ended support for Syrian rebels and says the U.S. decision to halt the CIA program equipping and training certain rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not done as a concession to Assad's ally Russia.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an operation today against militants in an area of the Syrian-Lebanese frontier, a commander in the military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said.

Are the Kurds a friend in Syria? "It's a complicated question," says [email protected] Director Mike Pompeo. "I don't think you can speak about the Kurds as an individual element" per Pompeo, "there are places we are definitely working alongside them".

Who is the US's enemy in Syria? [email protected] Director Mike Pompeo tells Aspen Security that IS and Iran are and that Iran is "extending its boundary, extending its reach" and Iran "now has a significant foothold in Syria". He does not mention Assad as an enemy.